


Chromatography

by readwritereview



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: 100 Drabble Challenge, 100 Themes Challenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-05
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-02-03 12:46:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1745099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/readwritereview/pseuds/readwritereview
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some stories move faster than others, but that doesn't mean we can't capture them all. Not if we try.</p><p>-</p><p>(hundred prompt, hundred word challenge)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

They come at random intervals and you keep wishing that the next one would stay - but they never do.

You really don't know how or why you continue anymore.

But every time the Fates (curse their knitting needles) send someone, you still carry ambrosia in one hand and hope in the other as you bring the unconscious heartbreaker back to life.

When they finally ask who you are, you know exactly how to answer. Because you've come across so many, all your introductions blend into one:

_"Rest and heal. No harm will come to you here. I am Calypso."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be a series of [prompts](http://kathrineroid.wordpress.com/2011/09/25/100-themes-challenge-writing-prompts/) and responses. Updates will be sporadic at best.  
> The chapter title will always be the prompt name.
> 
> Next chapter: Complicated


	2. Complicated

Organic life forms create chaos, cause bitterness, and throw their own sons off Olympus. (Iron's one thing,  _irony_ is another, and he's sick of people pointing out that the one responsible for his disfigured face is the goddess of  _family._ )

Then again, organic life forms also display bravery and righteousness. Many sacrificed themselves for the greater good – sometimes saving the world in the process.

The good side of both humans and gods will never exist without the nasty side, but everything works out in the end.

Honestly, Hephaestus doesn't know how such complicated beings managed to exist for so long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos!  
> Next chapter: Making History


	3. Making History

The first half of her life was not too impressive.

Guarding a golden apple tree in Hera's garden? It's a job so unimportant, she's never credited for it.

Then she betrayed her family for Heracles. Of course, she didn't get credit for helping the stupid male "hero" either. All she got was exile.

The Hunters saved her. Gave her the opportunity to add chapters to her life story – chapters that just might be good enough to blot out her lousy past.

(At least, that's what she thought. The new constellation was proof that Zoë Nightshade ended up making history instead.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Rivalry.


	4. Rivalry

Does everyone honestly believe that they'd get worked up over something as superficial as a chariot?

Ha _._

To be fair, the fight with the Apollo cabin was petty, but contrary to what many say, it wasn't a rivalry against the sun god's children.

It was anger at the unfair treatment of the Ares cabin –  _they had led the raid, ergo, they deserved the chariot_.

People should stop giving them crap and expecting them to deal with it. They're Ares's _children,_ for the love of the gods. Not Ares himself.

They aren't invincible and shouldn't be treated as if they are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Unbreakable


	5. Unbreakable

Sometimes you want to give up, but you can't let praetorship fall into the wrong hands. You miss Jason. Not really because of your feelings towards him, but leading the camp was easier when it was the two of you.

It's scary how each move you make can affect your home so greatly. If you don't run this place well, heads will roll.

Scrutiny. Impossible requests. Attempted manipulation. Attempted assassinations. Octavian. It’s torture after torture, every single day.

If you are to survive this, Reyna, you must be unbreakable.

(Or at least appear to be. For some, that is enough.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Obsession.


	6. Obsession

When the other harpies left Ella nothing to eat, she devoured book after book in place of real food. Words are _addictive_ , and she has read enough sentences, paragraphs and pages to know the million different ways she can describe her fervour for them, her reliance on them, her trust in them. Committing entire tomes to memory is as easy as breathing for Ella, and she is puzzled as to why people think otherwise.

_If someone rescued you from suffering, would you able to forget them? That is all there is to it_ , she thinks. _Words have saved me countless times._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I abandoned this at some point, but here we are again.
> 
> Next chapter: Eternity


	7. Eternity

Artemis understands that the gods are not permanent. They fade from prominence and power to obscurity or nothingness, if too few believe in them. This is why the pantheon produces so many half-bloods - in a world that regards the Olympians as myth, they can safely rely on their own children to sustain that belief, to burn the offerings that keep them alive.  
  
Artemis would call the other gods self-centred, if she were not doing the very same thing. She loves every Hunter dearly, but she knows that she gives them conditional immortality partly to maintain her own eternity on earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Gateway.


	8. Gateway

"So I deny its existence for a bit, and if they insist, I wait for them to show me proof before letting them up."

"Yes. They generally have weapons made out of this thing called celestial bronze - I've included pictures in your training file."

"I know what it looks like, my half-sister's a half-blood."

"Okay," says her supervisor, eyeing her warily. "It's an important job. Not many get to be gatekeepers of Olympus."

Her eyes fall to the lift, wondering how many would even ask to take it to the 600th floor. "I know," she says. "I'll do it well."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Death


End file.
